ABOUT US

Cotton Tree Lodge was founded in 2006 by Chris Crowell and Jeff Pzena. Chris had previously “discovered” Belize while traveling through Mexico and Guatemala. In his travels he noticed a unique quality that made this little country somehow different than the rest of Central America.

Later he returned with his sailboat looking for something he could do that would make a difference in the world. He found what he was looking for while traveling up the Moho River-a beautiful farm nestled on the bank of the slow moving river beneath a towering Cotton Tree. Not only was his breath taken away, he had a dream of sharing the magic and mystique of Belize with others. He saw a chance to create an atmosphere where people could appreciate other cultures and learn something about their own spirit. A dream of impacting lives… of exploring new terrain… of creating stories for a lifetime.

In 2012 Kasey and I took a vacation to Belize. We had previously traveled to various locations in Mexico and Guatemala and were excited to see a new country. What we saw was indescribable. We snorkeled pristine coral reefs, hiked/swam deep into caves, played in waterfalls, enjoyed open air markets, climbed to the top of pyramids, and fell asleep listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Ever since that trip we talked about moving our family to Belize. We own a small resort in Minnesota and while we love Minnesota, the winters are fierce. And long. And very cold. We always thought the perfect life would be to run our little resort in Minnesota in the summers and operate a jungle lodge in the winters. For years we talked. And talked.

In the fall of 2018 we decided to take another look at Belize. I flew down to meet with the owner of a resort in the Cayo we were interested in. But I didn’t love it there. Crowded, noisy, too developed. San Pedro was worse. I felt impressed to travel down to Toledo and so I did. As soon as I got to Cotton Tree Lodge I knew my search was over. I texted Kasey immediately. “Now this is a real jungle lodge!”. Kasey joined me for a later trip in early 2019 and she too was blown away by Cotton Tree Lodge. We knew we had found something special. In August of 2019 we made it official and purchased Cotton Tree Lodge. Along with our three children-Adyson (14), Brock (11) and Chase (5) we are extremely excited to work with the crew at Cotton Tree Lodge sharing something we love-with you.

One of the major reasons the Van Tassell family purchased Cotton Tree Lodge was to give them more opportunities for humanitarian work. They love Belize and the Belizean people. Living in Belize has provided numerous opportunities to meet people struggling or someone help someone simply in need. If you want to read more about some of these efforts please visit our humanitarian page in the about us tab.